


Food for Comfort

by Yamino_Yama



Category: IDOLiSH7 (Video Game)
Genre: Bonding, Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff and Angst, M/M, POV Alternating, Romance, mezzo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-21
Updated: 2018-09-21
Packaged: 2019-07-15 00:00:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16051268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yamino_Yama/pseuds/Yamino_Yama
Summary: After Sogo suffers a fainting spell, he winds up with a new worry: how to keep Tamaki from fussing over him. Meanwhile, Tamaki seeks help to come up with a way to keep them both at ease.





	Food for Comfort

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!! It's been a while since I wrote a MEZZO” fic and it's been long overdue. This one is mostly fluff sprinkled with angst, inspired by some rabbit chats mentioning Yama making Tama's lunch and Tama taking pics of them to send to Sou <3 It takes place at a time when they've learned each other's pasts but are still adjusting to their partnership as well as realizing their feelings. As the tags say, there is a POV change (Sou's to Tama's) and it is denoted with three asterisks *** One asterisk is just a break in scenes.
> 
> Also, though this fic is MEZZO-centric, it can be thought of as my (late) contribution to Trigger Day since Tenten has a small but important role :) Actually, all of i7, Trigger, and Re:vale get a mention. YAY! Thank you for reading and enjoy!!

Sogo could hear humming. He knew that voice, and he knew that song. It was Tamaki, humming a MEZZO” song. That didn't make sense to him though, knowing how adamant Tamaki was about not singing MEZZO” songs without him. And this song . . .

_Miss you_ , Sogo realized as he opened his eyes. Tamaki was sitting at Sogo's bedside, slumped and resting his head on his arms, close to Sogo's leg. His eyes closed and his humming probably drowning out the sounds of Sogo shifting, Tamaki had yet to notice Sogo was awake. Sogo smiled and cleared his throat noisily, beaming wider as Tamaki snapped to attention and gawked at him.

“Sou-chan, you're all right.”

“Yes, Tamaki-kun, I'm sorry I worried you but I just had a fainting spell from lack of eating. I guess I just forgot with so much work pouring in.”

Tamaki put on a pout. “That doesn't sound like _just_ anything. Forgetting to eat is like forgetting to _breathe_ , Sou-chan!”

Sogo frowned, considering. “I don't think that's the same. Breathing is an involuntary—”

“Don't get smart right now, Sou-chan,” Tamaki grumbled.

It was easy to see Tamaki was still upset.

As Sogo opened his mouth to speak, Tamaki murmured, “Is it my fault?” Did I stress you out by not cleaning the kitchen after Rikkun and I tried making pudding for Iorin?”

“Well, that _did_ upset me a bit since Mitsuki-san asked _me_ to help clean but—”

“I'm sorry,” Tamaki interrupted. “I'll be better, I promise so don't . . .”

Tamaki's voice faltered but Sogo could guess the rest. “I'm all right, Tamaki-kun, and this wasn't your doing. It was irresponsible of me to not balance my work and my health and I don't plan on ever letting it happen again. You really don't have to worry. I'm not going anywhere.”

“Really?”

“Really!”

Tamaki smiled, but it didn't last. In a moment, all signs of his joy had fallen away. Sogo was the one worried now, seeing Tamaki so downcast that he wouldn't meet Sogo's eyes, but he did and said nothing, not knowing what to do or say.

*

As Sogo thought, Tamaki-kun wasn't convinced at his being all right at all. It was apparent in how he stuck closer to him when they had a job together, offering him snacks, texted him an unkind amount of times to ask if he'd eaten when they were apart, and watched how much Sogo put on his plate at dinner. It was sweet in some way, but it was also rubbing Sogo wrong. Did Tamaki-kun think he couldn't take care of himself? That he was that helpless?

He stopped humoring him with answering the texts and that only made Tamaki sulky. Sogo held in a sigh and considered reading up how to prove your worth to a friend and coworker. He didn't have much time to read though so he racked his mind for something that he might have read in the past that could help him now. It was while Tamaki was pacing in front of his bedroom door, being altogether too noisy for someone trying to be stealthy, that Sogo thought of an idea.

“Come in, Tamaki-kun,” Sogo called.

Tamaki poked his head in. “I didn't even knock yet, Sou-chan, how'd you know I was there.”

Sogo chuckled as Tamaki came all the way in, wearing a false grin. “Wild guess.”

Tamaki looked taken aback and ready to bolt, but held his ground. “You're angry about something, but so am I. You still skip meals and act like it's a problem when I try to remind you.”

“Because it is, Tamaki-kun,” Sogo admitted, trying not to raise his voice. “No one else is acting as concerned and that makes it seem like you . . . like my own partner is the only one who thinks I can't take care of myself.”

Tamaki's eyes widened. “That's not it,” he reassured Sogo, hanging his head. “I just . . .”

Sogo softened. This wasn't how he wanted things to go. After all, he knew the reason for Tamaki's nervousness regarding his health. “Come here,” he said, beckoning Tamaki close.

“Put two fingers here,” he gestured to the vein in his wrist. “Can you feel my pulse?”

“A little,” Tamaki answered.

“Try here.” Sogo flinched at the feel of Tamaki's fingers against his neck. “Stronger?”

“I guess so, but I don't get it, Sou-chan.”

“I have a healthy heart and as long as it keeps beating strong like this, I'm safe.”

“Hmm,” Tamaki hummed, still sounding skeptical. “Is there a way to hear it even better? Your heartbeat?”

Sogo grew apprehensive, feeling that healthy heart of his skip, but if this helped Tamaki then . . . “Sure, lie down and put your ear here.”

Tamaki looked afraid now, but he did as he was told, lying down and putting his head to Sogo's chest. He sighed as he settled in, tickling Sogo and causing him to freeze up. “You're right, it sounds strong,” he said, “but that doesn't surprise me. I don't think you're weak, Sou-chan, but strong people can break too.”

That caught Sogo off guard. He reached to put his hand on Tamaki's head, run his fingers through his hair and try all he could to soothe him, but he faltered, not wanting to overstep. In a short time, he could hear Tamaki snoring softly and he was glad that he'd read a book on how the sound of heartbeats relaxed puppies back when he'd wanted a dog as a child. He would never let Tamaki know where this idea came from, of course, but he was relieved that it seemed to help humans too.

Having a heartbeat near him wasn't settling Sogo though as Tamaki mumbled and stirred in his sleep, causing a furious heat in Sogo and making it near impossible for him to fall asleep immediately. It was all just another something that he wouldn't let Tamaki know.

 

***

 

Sou-chan left Tamaki no choice, still working like crazy and telling Tamaki not to worry as if he could. He was trying harder to get food and even rest, but there were still times when he honestly forgot about himself, as was his nature, Tamaki knew. Still, there had to be someone who knew what to do. When Re:vale dropped in one day, Yukirin split to play with Yama-san and left Momorin with Mikki in the kitchen. Iorin was there too since Sou-chan had gone out for a walk with Rikkun. Tamaki fiddled away with things while the others talked, hoping he'd get a chance to have the conversation he wanted with Momorin. Nagicchi saved the day by bursting in with a skirt and hair ties and dragging Mikki away, shouting about he, Yama-san, and Yukirin needing a Kokona clone now. Iorin followed, saying he had to make sure they didn't rile Mikki up. Tamaki was finally left alone with Momorin.

Hands deep in bubbly water, Momorin was washing dishes and humming. Tamaki approached him. “Hey, Momorin,” Tamaki started. “Yukirin is bad at taking care of himself, right?”

Momorin blushed and chuckled. “Yuki can be helpless sometimes, but that's what makes him adorable~”

“If he forgot to eat, fainted, and _still_ kept forgetting, what would you do to keep him alive?”

“Ah—” Momorin quit handling the dishes and turned to him. “Tamaki . . .”

Tamaki could tell that Momorin knew what his question was about and he could also tell that Momorin knew not to let on that he knew and embarrass him. He liked Momorin for that and waited patiently for what he had to say.

“Well, as you know, Yuki is an amazing cook and the only things that have hindered him appeasing his appetite are our being too poor for good food and him sleeping past breakfast and sometimes lunch.”

“That!” Tamaki exclaimed. “That's similar enough. What do you do then?”

“I get take-out from a restaurant, wake him, and share it with him. That . . . probably doesn't help too much does it.”

Tamaki thought it over. When Sou-chan was with him, there was no problem. It was when they were apart that Tamaki had to rely on Sou-chan reading his texts and actually doing what they said, taking a break and feeding his belly. Tamaki had no way of getting to Sou-chan without slow public transport and he couldn't ask Manager to go out of her way to drive him to get food, drop it with Sou-chan _and_ take him back to the dorms. It wouldn't work, but Tamaki hadn't given up.

“It's all right, Momorin. Thanks. I have someone else I want to ask too.”

*

It didn't take long for Trigger to visit. What _would_ have taken long was waiting for Rikkun to leave Tenten alone so Tamaki could talk. Instead, Tamaki had planned ahead and given Iorin the order to give Rikkun something to do for a few minutes. While everyone else was occupied, even Sou-chan because Gakkun and Ryuu-aniki were being loud with the Pyth Trio in another room and drawing his attention, Iorin put on a stern face and told Rikkun that he had to do something or other (Tamaki wasn't listening) and got him unglued from Tenten.

“Hey, Tenten, I need to ask you something,” Tamaki said as soon as he got the chance. “I can pay you a pudding for your answer, if you want.”

“That won't be necessary, but do you have a reason for asking me in particular?”

“You know a lot of stuff and are used to taking care of someone who gets sick easily. You just seem like someone that likes to help people, even if you don't get anything out of it, even if the person you help doesn't know what you're doing for them.”

Tamaki thought he saw surprise in Tenten's blink but it was hard to tell. That was Tenten, always keeping what he felt hidden. Sometimes Tamaki could understand why Rikkun thought Sou-chan and Tenten were alike, a little bit anyway, but there was only one Sou-chan.

“You're a great judge of character, Tamaki Yotsuba,” Tenten said. “Ask away.”

“How would you make sure someone doesn't skip meals and get weak when you aren't near them and can't check that they're eating. You can't bring them food either,” he added.

“That's quite the dilemma since you can't force another to do things like eat or sleep, just make convincing arguments to manipulate their will.”

Tamaki frowned. “I don't get it.”

“For example, my putting rubber duckies in the tub for Riku when we were kids because I knew he'd be more eager to bathe.”

Tamaki thought that over. “I already said there's no way for me to bring food, so it won't help to dump hot sauce on things.”

Tenten sighed. “I don't quite follow, but there is another method. You know, I often take pictures of what I'm eating and send them to Gaku and Ryuu and, when I do, those two often respond back with pictures of their own meals.”

Tamaki perked up, cocked his head, considering. “Sou-chan might not get the message and just write back 'make sure to eat your veggies' or something.

Tenten smiled. “Then you'll have to be more direct.”

“Just ask him to send pics, you mean?”

“That's right. I'm certain that's your best plan of action.”

“Cool, Tenten, thanks! I'll try it tomorrow.”

“Let me know how it goes.”

*

“Your meal looked way more appetizing than mine today, Tamaki-kun. It seemed Yamato-san outdid himself.” Sou-chan was lounging on his bed, while Tamaki sat on the floor at his side, playing his handheld game. He paused to answer.

“That's because Mikki helped him with this one,” Tamaki told him. After a while, he added in a mumble. “It's great that you're taking better care of yourself, Sou-chan.”

Sou-chan smiled at him and Tamaki felt his face heat up. “It's thanks to you, Tamaki-kun. I knew you were worried and I felt a bit frustrated at being the cause, so I didn't want to listen to your advice. I was being stubborn. But, like you said, taking pictures is like storing memories. Somehow even something as unimpressive as a bento from the convenience store holds more meaning when I send a picture of it to you.”

“Because it's me you're sending it to?” asked Tamaki.

“Right,” Sou-chan admitted right away, and that made Tamaki's chest feel tight. These little things Sou-chan did causing big changes in him kind of made him want to run and hide, but also . . .

“Sou-chan, I know you're doing better, eating and all, but is it okay if I lean against you, like that one time?”

“S-sure, if you want.”

Tamaki got up and laid beside Sou-chan, keeping distance between them at first, then leaning in to rest his head against Sou-chan's chest, hear that heartbeat, a soothing rhythm, even if it did seem a little fast. As Tamaki thought, being close was best. He thought over how they could feel even closer as he closed his eyes.

“Hey, Sou-chan, d-do you mind petting my head? It's what my mom used to do during thunder storms. Smoothing my hair over my ears a bit so I couldn't hear the grumble outside.”

“How's this?” Tamaki managed to hear Sou-chan's voice even as he muffled his hearing with his hand. He was pretty sure he could hear a smile in his voice and he smiled too, sighing.

“Perfect, thanks.” On the verge of sleep, he muttered. “You would have liked her, Sou-chan.”

“I'm sure I would have,” Tamaki just barely heard Sou-chan reply. “I'm really thankful that she brought you into this world, Tamaki-kun, into my world.”

Tamaki was on the border between trance and wake, about to topple into the dream world of milky pudding lakes and starlight, but a few thoughts followed him. He could get even closer still to Sou-chan, he knew. He wondered how much closer? How long it would take?

Tamaki felt his breathing beginning to sync with Sou-chan's as they both loosed up and found sleep thanks to the melodies each other's bodies produced.

 

END

 


End file.
